Noise and echo present difficulties for speech processing applications, including speech recognition, speech enhancement, and the like. This is particularly true in distant talker scenarios, where the desired speech component of a received signal is relatively weak, and the corresponding signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal-to-echo ratio (SER) are low. Modern devices and platforms typically include a microphone array which enables some degree of spatial filtering, also referred to as beamforming, for enhancement of the desired speech component. Some existing systems perform beamforming followed by echo cancellation, but in these cases, the beamformer design is greatly complicated (e.g., computationally expensive) by the fact that the signal includes echo. Some other existing systems perform echo cancellation followed by beamforming, but this also increases complexity due to the need for multi-channel echo cancellation.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent in light of this disclosure.